Negotiating inseparability in China : the Xinjiang class and the dynamics of Uyghur identity / Timothy Grose.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grose, Timothy A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Boarding schools--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu.

Boarding schools.

Uighur (Turkic people)--China--Ethnic identity.

Uighur (Turkic people).

High schools--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu.

High schools.

Education, Secondary--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu.

Education, Secondary.

China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Hong Kong : HKU Press, [2019]

Summary:

This is a book length study of the Xinjiang Class. Based on a longitudinal field research between 2006 to 2017, a period in which Grose spoke with over sixty graduates of the boarding school programme, the book offers an assessment of the effectiveness of programme in meeting its political goals and a detailed picture of the dynamics of Uyghur identity. The experiences of Uyghur graduates of the Xinjiang Class reveal how young, educated Uyghurs strategically and selectively embrace elements of the corporate Chinese 'Zhonghua minzu' identity in order to stretch the boundaries of a collective Uyghur identity. This identity is expressed through renewed efforts to practice Islam, the insistence on speaking Uyghur, and the reluctance to befriend Han classmates.

"This is the first book-length study of graduates from the Xinjiang Class, a program that funds senior high school aged students from Xinjiang, mostly ethnic Uyghur, to attend a four-year course in predominately Han-populated cities in eastern and coastal China. Based on longitudinal field research, 'Negotiating Inseparability in China: The Xinjiang Class and the Dynamics of Uyghur Identity' offers a detailed picture of the multilayered identities of contemporary Uyghur youth and an assessment of the effectiveness of this program in meeting its political goals. The experiences of Xinjiang Class graduates reveal how young, educated Uyghurs strategically and selectively embrace elements of the corporate Chinese Zhonghua minzu identity in order to stretch the boundaries of a nonstate-defined Uyghur identity. Timothy Grose also argues that the impositions of Chinese Mandarin and secular Chinese Communist Party (CCP) values over ethnic minority languages and religion, and physically displacing young Uyghurs from their neighbourhood and cultural environment do not lead to ethnic assimilation, as the CCP apparently expects. Despite pressure from state authorities to urge Xinjiang Class graduates to return after their formal education, the majority of the graduates choose to remain in inner China or to use their Xinjiang Class education as a springboard to seek global citizenship based upon membership in a transnational Islamic community. For those who return to Xinjiang, contrary to the political goal of the program, few intend to serve the CCP, their country, or even their hometown. Instead, their homecomings are marred by disappointment, frustration, and discontent"-- Publisher

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Incubating Loyalty (or Resistance) in Chinese Boarding Schools

2. Asserting Uyghur Identity from China’s “Central Plains”

3. Ignoring CCP Calls to Return to Xinjiang

4. The Disappointing Road Home

Conclusion

References

Index

Introduction

2. Asserting Uyghur Identity from China's "Central Plains"

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCOhost, viewed May 19, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Grose, Timothy A. Negotiating inseparability in China.

ISBN:

9789882204805

9882204805

OCLC:

1142634624

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license